2005 Lotus Elise

Possibly the best-handling car you can buy

You don't have to drive it like you're angry with it, and it doesn't buzz and shriek back at you. In Toyotas, we usually feel we have to rev this engine hard and just put up with its intensity. The VVTL-i has always made a dramatic changeover to the high-speed cam profile at about 6400 rpm. It gets the job done, but doesn't feel as silky and happy as it might.Lotus has turned the 1.8 into a much smoother, more elastic powerplant and not just by bolting it into a vastly lighter, less burdensome vehicle. A new engine-control computer programmed by Lotus significantly changes the character of the engine. Notably, the crossover from low-speed to high-speed valve events happens a couple hundred rpm sooner and feels much more seamless. It doesn't fall off the cam on upshifts, which enhances the engine's ability to provide ready torque and willing response whenever the driver asks.

And that gets to the real point of the Elise. The Lotus development team said they were after a Formula Ford car for the road, in the way it would take your input, react and communicate, forgive mistakes but not hide them, help you learn to drive better, and make sure you enjoy the lessons along the way. And they nailed it.

Drop into the pleasingly stark cockpit (which you can do open-wheeler-style if you're feeling jaunty, stepping over the door, standing on the seat, then wriggling down under the wheel), and you find yourself in a businesslike driving environment. You sit low to the ground, with very little car around you, though you're well-protected by the large windshield and the rear roof hoop (with fixed glass). Visibility is fine in all directions except to the rear quarters, and the upright, one-piece bucket seat, which magically accommodates a wide range of physiques, presents you to the smallish steering wheel in a way that immediately anticipates good things to come.

The engine fires to an eager but not too raspy blat, and as you orient on the pedals and snick the shifter into first, you notice two key points: First, spacing of the pedals isn't overly cramped, but you'll still do better with skinny loafers than with wide-soled running shoes; and second, the slop-free linkage and light gate return springs Lotus has selected make this six-speed a friendlier gearbox than it's ever been before.It doesn't take much beyond a brisk walking pace to appreciate how the Elise harnesses the magic of light weight. The delicate immediacy of fast-ratio, pure-manual steering, with little mass bearing down on smallish tire contact patches, is a delight to feel and to use. And a car weighing under a ton doesn't need a lot of technical frippery to help it change heading on a whim. Finally, 190 horsepower and 138 pound-feet may not sound like the stuff of speed-lust, but with only 1975 pounds of car to resist its will, that output can flat motivate. Lotus quotes a 0-to-60 time of 4.9 seconds, though that only hints at the real beauty of the Elise's power-to-weight ratio. Throttle is available to do more than just speed up and slow down. It also can be used to affect cornering attitude, giving the driver lively options to manage both ends of the car. Sweet.